Apparatus for multi-stage cutting and juice pressing

ABSTRACT

Juice extraction using multiple pairs of juice extractors and comminutors which reduce the food pieces into successively smaller pieces with juice extraction occurring after each comminuting step. Coarse food pieces are pressed with extracted juice directed to a juice holding tank. The pressed coarse chop food pieces fall into the hopper of a second comminutor which performs a medium chop on the now pressed but still coarse chopped food pieces. The medium chopped food pieces are then fed from the second comminutor into the juice extraction chamber of a second juice extractor whereupon the medium chopped food pieces are pressed with extracted juice directed to a juice holding tank. Any number of comminutor and juice extraction pairs may be used in serial fashion to optimize the percentage of juice extracted in a minimum amount of time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatus and methods for extracting juicefrom a food mass such as fruits and vegetables, and more particularlyrelates to improved industrial apparatus and methods therefor.

Various apparatus and methods for extracting juice from fruits andvegetables have been known for a very long time with most all comprisingthree basic steps: forming the food mass into small pieces (e.g., bycutting, grinding or crushing), extracting the juice from the smallpieces (e.g., by pressing), and separating the extracted juice from thefood mass solids (e.g., by allowing the juice to fall from the food masssolids by gravity).

The two primary parameters for juice pressing are percent of juiceextracted from a given food mass and extraction time. In order tomaximize the efficiency of the juice extraction process, apparatus andmethods are designed in an attempt to maximize the percentage of juiceextracted from a food mass while minimizing the time to do so. Theproblem is that these two parameters of percent juice extracted versustime tend to work against each other in that the more the food mass ismacerated into smaller pieces prior to juice pressing, the higher thechance the machine will become clogged resulting in machine downtimewhich thereby increases the time between successive pressings. Anotherpotential problem is that should the food solids be made too small, itis more difficult to keep them separated from the juice being extractedtherefrom. Conversely, the less the food is macerated (to decrease thechance of clogging the machine and to easily separate the juice from thesolids) the less percentage of juice is extracted due to the failure ofbreaking open a majority of the individual plant cells in the food piecewhich contains the juice. Many prior art apparatus and methods haveattempted to balance these two parameters but with varying success.There thus still remains a need for improved apparatus and methods whichwill further maximize percent of juice extracted while minimizing thetime to do so.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above needs by providing apparatusand methods for extracting juice from a food mass which involvessuccessively reducing the individual pieces of the food mass intosmaller pieces while extracting juice after each food piece sizereduction step. As used herein, words such as “reduce”, “macerate” and“comminute” (in any form) are meant to include any and all means bywhich a single food piece may be formed into multiple smaller pieces. Anon-exhaustive list of such means includes cutting, chopping, grindingand crushing, for example.

A juice extraction cycle using multiple juice extractors and comminutorsin accordance with the invention begins with delivering whole foodpieces to be juiced to a first comminutor which performs a coarse chop.For example, in the case of apples or similar fruit, the “coarse”initial chop would preferably be into “cubes” ¼″ per side, and then thefinal comminuting step would have pieces resembling cubes with 1/64″ perside, or smaller. In the case of carrots which are firmer than apples,and more fibrous, the initial coarse chop might be into cubes, 1/16″ perside, and the final comminuting step would provide a food massresembling the consistency of peanut butter.

The coarsely chopped food pieces are fed into the pressing chamber of afirst juice extractor. The coarse food pieces are pressed with extractedjuice falling into the collection tray and then directed to a juiceholding tank. The tray of first juice extractor is retracted allowingthe pressed coarse chop food pieces to fall into the hopper of a secondcomminutor which performs a medium chop on the now pressed but stillcoarse chopped food pieces. The medium chopped food pieces are then fedfrom the second comminutor into the juice extraction chamber of a secondjuice extractor whereupon the medium chopped food pieces are pressedwith extracted juice falling into the juice collection tray of thesecond juice extractor and then directed to a juice holding tank.

This process may be repeated with any desired number of successive pairsof comminutors and juice extractors with the food pieces being choppedinto successively finer and finer pieces as they pass from onecomminutor and juice extractor to the next comminutor and juiceextractor. Each time the food pieces are further chopped new surfaceareas of the food piece and thus more juice containing cells arerevealed which may then be ruptured at the next pressing stationallowing more juice to be extracted in a relatively short pressing time.The present invention thus provides apparatus and methods by which amaximum quantity of juice can be extracted while minimizing the time todo so.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will further be described, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1a and 1b are flow charts of prior art methods of juiceextraction;

FIG. 1c is a flow chart in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a typical curve showing juice extraction versus timeachievable with a hydraulic juice press;

FIG. 3 is a simplified, elevational view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified, side elevational view of an embodiment of ajuicing station according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are simplified, side elevational views showingsuccessive steps in a single juicing operation using the embodiment ofjuicing station shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a simplified flow chart of another embodiment of theinvention.

Similar reference characters may refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1A, a simple flowchart describes a typical prior artmethod of processing a food mass such as fruit into juice. In step 1 theincoming food pieces are soaked and washed according to establishedstandards. At step 3 the washed food pieces are passed to a stationwhere a worker evaluates the condition of the food pieces as seen atstep 5. Based upon certain known criteria such as degree of ripeness andfirmness of the food pieces, the skilled operator will estimate how fineto chop the food pieces and will set the macerator (e.g., chopper) tothe desired setting seen at step 7. As discussed above, the finer thechop the greater the juice yield but the higher the chance the machinewill become clogged. The operator must therefore be skilled andexperienced so as to determine the most effective setting for themacerator based on the condition of the food pieces. Should the foodpieces be cut too coarse, the juice yield will be low; should the foodpieces be cut too fine, the machine may become clogged and/or theprocessing time of the resultant slurry is exponentially increased inorder to filter the juice from the very fine solids.

Once the operator has selected the desired maceration parameters, thefood pieces are macerated (e.g., chopped) as seen at step 9. Themacerated food pieces are then pressed as seen at step 11 where thejuice is forced out of the food solids (called “pomace” or “cake”). Thejuice is directed to a holding tank while the cake is discarded as seenat step 13.

The steps illustrated in FIG. 1A illustrate the procedure for makingjuice the way it is practiced currently during the making of fresh juicewhich is ready for consumption (i.e., juice that is minimally processedas illustrated in FIG. 1A and does not include further processing stepssuch as the application of heat, for example).

While FIG. 1A shows a prior art method for making fresh juice, FIG. 1Bis a flow chart showing a prior art method for making juice which is notsuitable for fresh consumption (e.g., making juice concentrate) whereflavor and taste are secondary in importance to juice yield which is ofprimary importance.

Referring to FIG. 1B, all steps therein are substantially identical tothe steps in FIG. 1a except boxes 13, 15 and 19 show a process oftenpracticed where the cake is broken up inside the machine and thenpressed again to extract any juice remaining inside the cake. Thisbreaking and re-pressing of the cake may be done several times overuntil substantially all the available juice is extracted from the cakewhich is then discarded to waste at step 17. This entire process cantake place typically over one to two hours.

FIG. 1C shows one possible embodiment of the invention where food piecesto be juiced are cleaned at step 2. After cleaning the food pieces arefed via conveying step 4 to step 6 where a first comminutor which is setto reduce the food pieces into smaller pieces (termed a “coarse chop” inthe Step 6). The coarsely chopped food pieces from the first comminutorare then pressed for a first juice extraction as seen at step 8. Thisfirst juicing operation is relatively quick (e.g., about a minute orso). Juice from this first pressing is sent to a holding tank (notshown).

The food pieces from the first pressing are then advanced as rapidly aspossible to a second comminuting operation as seen at step 10 whereinthe coarsely chopped food pieces are cut again into yet slightly smallerpieces (termed a “medium” chop in the step 10). The medium chopped foodpieces are then subjected to a second pressing as seen at step 12 whichmay be a relatively quick pressing as in step 8 (e.g., a minute or so induration). As in step 8, the juice extracted at step 12 is directed to aholding tank (not shown).

This process of further reduction in food piece size and pressing isconducted in alternating serial fashion as seen in steps 14-24 for asmany times as desired, usually from two to eight times, but morepreferably about four to five times. After the final juicing as seen atstep 24, the cake, which has been chopped and pressed multiple times, ispassed to a waste collector as seen at step 26.

Although the steps shown in FIG. 1C can be performed using any desiredtype of comminutor and juice extractor, one preferred embodimentutilizes the mechanical juice extractor seen in FIG. 4 which ismanufactured by Goodnature Products of Buffalo, N.Y.

FIG. 4 shows a side view featuring two hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders68 and 69 which advance the primary juicing platen 72 toward fixedplaten 52. Cylinders 68 and 68 are preferably double acting cylinders sothat they are also able to retract the platen 72. The moving platen 72and fixed platen 52 are preferably covered with a foraminous material,like screening or cloth, which allow for passage of juice therethrough.The piston rods 74 of the cylinders may loosely engage the platen 72.Covers 76 may be provided to protect the cylinder rods from juicecontact.

A third hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 62 is situated so as to be ableto advance the sliding juice tray 58 via its piston rod 64 which engagessliding tray tab 65 via pin 66. The sliding juice tray 58 preferably hasa foraminous screen 78 covering it which forms the bottom of the juicingchamber 71 bounded by vertical fixed platen 70, fixed platen 52, and thevertical sides 73 of the chamber 71.

When moveable juice tray 58 is fully extended with its leading edgeagainst fixed platen 52 as shown in FIG. 4, the juicing chamber 71 has 4vertical sides and a bottom with an open top. When the sliding tray 58is fully retracted, the juicing chamber 71 has an open bottom and anopen top. In this position anything remaining in the juicing chamber(e.g., cake) will fall out through the open bottom. The provision of anopen top where the food mass is passed into the juicing chamber withdischarge thorough the bottom when the tray is retracted allows rapidentry of the food mass and rapid exit of the cake once the food mass hadbeen juiced. This rapid entry and exit is particularly well suited for ajuice processing line having the repetitive maceration and juiceextraction steps the present invention provides.

This is more fully illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5A-D where FIG. 3 shows anarrangement of five juicer extractors 38 a-38 e interspaced with a likenumber of comminutors 36 a-36 e in a vertical column arrangement withthe first (upper-most) comminutor 36 a located above the first(upper-most) juice extractor 38 a. The conveyor receiving hopper 30receives food pieces 32 to be juiced and conveys the food pieces 32 viaa belt 34 to the upper opening of the top comminutor 36 a. The juiceextractor described in FIG. 4 is labeled here in FIG. 3 as referencenumerals 38 a-38 e although juice extractors having embodiments otherthan that shown in FIG. 4 may be used as desired (e.g., belt orcentrifugal press). One such alternate embodiment is shown in FIG. 6wherein a belt type press is shown at five extraction stations 101-105.In this embodiment, the food mass on the belt is pressed by a respectiveplaten 101 a-101 e, respectively, which lowers onto a permeable belt 101f-101 j where the food mass “fm” is located and the pressed juice isallowed to flow through the permeable belt into a juice collection tray101 k-1010 located beneath the top extent of the respective belt. Therespective belt then travels horizontally in the direction of the arrowsto carry the extracted food mass to the next comminuting station 101 p-twhere the further comminuted food mass drops in the direction of thearrow on to the next lower belt, the process thus repeating with eversmaller foods particle sizes as in the other embodiment.

The juice extracting cycle at a single juice extractor is depicted inFIG. 5A-D wherein FIG. 5A shows a juice extractor receiving shreddedfood pieces 53 from a comminutor exit chute 50 positioned verticallydirectly above the juicing chamber open top. The juicing chamber isdefined by vertical juicing platen 72 (which may be a solid plate and/ora foraminous material), vertical fixed platen 52 (which may be a solidplate and/or a foraminous material), two sidewalls 73, and a horizontalbottom wall of the chamber formed by foraminous screen 78 which acts asa cover to sliding juice pan 58. The food pieces 53 may be activelythrown into the juicing chamber by the action of spinning blades (notshown) of the comminutor.

At a given signal, the delivery of the whole food pieces 32 to thecomminutor is stopped and juice extraction begins as shown in FIG. 5Bwhere the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders 68 and 69 extend and moveplaten 72 horizontally towards fixed platen 52, thus trapping andpressing the food pieces 53 captured between the two platens. Theextracted juice falls by gravity and passes through the screen 78 andinto the juice tray 58 where it is collected and exits through the juicepan exit tube 60 to a juice holding tank (not shown).

FIG. 5C shows the cake discharge cycle which proceeds as follows: aftera relatively short juice extraction time, usually about a minute to twominutes, the slidable juice pan 58 is moved towards the right in FIG. 5cand the platen 72 is retracted by the retracting cylinders 68 and 69.This releases the cake 55 which falls vertically downwards as indicatedby arrow 59 into the waiting input chute 56 of a second comminutorlocated therebeneath (not shown in FIG. 5c ).

FIG. 5D illustrates the end position of a fully completed juiceextraction cycle where sliding juice tray 58 is again extended and nowcloses off the entire bottom of the juicing chamber. The moveable platen72 is fully retracted thereby providing maximum open space to receivethe next load of chopped food pieces through the open top of the juicingchamber.

The above describes one complete juice extraction cycle for a singlejuice extractor. FIG. 3 illustrates how several of these juiceextractors and comminutors may be positioned in alternating, serialfashion in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a juice extraction cycle using multiple juiceextractors and comminutors in accordance with the invention will now bedescribed. As described briefly above, the conveyor receiving hopper 30receives whole food pieces 32 to be juiced and conveys the food pieces32 via a belt 34 to the upper opening of the first comminutor 36 a whichperforms a coarse chop. The coarsely chopped food pieces are fed intothe pressing chamber of the first juice extractor 38 a. The coarse foodpieces are pressed with extracted juice falling into the collection trayand then directed to a juice holding tank. The tray of first juiceextractor 38 a is retracted allowing the pressed coarse chop food piecesto fall into the hopper of the second comminutor 36 b which performs amedium chop on the now pressed but still coarse chopped food pieces. Themedium chopped food pieces are then fed from second comminutor 36 b intothe juice extraction chamber of second juice extractor 38 b whereuponthe medium chopped food pieces are pressed with extracted juice fallinginto the juice collection tray of second juice extractor 38 b and thendirected to a juice holding tank.

The tray of second juice extractor 38 b is retracted allowing thepressed medium chopped food pieces to fall into the hopper of the thirdcomminutor 36 c which performs a medium/medium-fine chop on the nowpressed but still medium chopped food pieces. The now medium/medium-finechopped food pieces are then fed from third comminutor 36 c into thejuice extraction chamber of third juice extractor 38 c whereupon themedium/medium-fine chopped food pieces are pressed with extracted juicefalling into the juice collection tray of third juice extractor 38 c andthen directed to a juice holding tank.

The tray of third juice extractor 38 c is retracted allowing the pressedmedium/medium-fine chopped food pieces to fall into the hopper of thefourth comminutor 36 d which performs a medium-fine/fine chop on the nowpressed but still medium/medium-fine chopped food pieces. The nowmedium-fine/fine chopped food pieces are then fed from fourth comminutor36 d into the juice extraction chamber of fourth juice extractor 38 dwhereupon the medium-fine/fine chopped food pieces are pressed withextracted juice falling into the juice collection tray of fourth juiceextractor 38 d and then directed to a juice holding tank.

The tray of fourth juice extractor 38 c is retracted allowing thepressed medium/medium-fine chopped food pieces to fall into the hopperof the fifth comminutor 36 e which performs a fine chop on the nowpressed but still medium-fine/fine chopped food pieces. The now finechopped food pieces are then fed from fifth comminutor 36 e into thejuice extraction chamber of fifth juice extractor 38 e whereupon thefine chopped food pieces are pressed with extracted juice falling intothe juice collection tray of fifth juice extractor 38 e and thendirected to a juice holding tank.

The tray of fifth and last juice extractor 38 e is retracted allowingthe pressed fine chopped food pieces to fall onto conveyor 44 whichdelivers the now fully pressed cake for disposal.

The juice extraction cycle using multiple juice extractors andcomminutors as described above may be sequenced and controlled in anydesired manner. For example, a system including sensors, microprocessorsand software may control the operation in a continuously moving fashionsuch that the food delivery and all comminutors and extractors arerunning simultaneously in a staged and ordered fashion. For example,when juice extractor 38 a indicates that it is empty and ready for morefood pieces, a signal may be sent to instruct conveyor 34 to feed theappropriate amount of food pieces to comminutor 36 a with the conveyorstopping when the first extractor is full and starting again when itreceives an empty signal.

In this manner, pressed food pieces may be discharged from the extractorand new food pieces loaded into the same extractor almost continuously.With the five comminutor and extractor set-up shown in FIG. 3 andapproximately one minute juicing cycles at each extractor, the totaljuice extraction time is approximately five minutes with juice yields of90% or higher achieved by this apparatus and method.

If desired, the pressing pressure exerted on the food pieces by thejuice extractors 38 a-e may be successively increased at each juiceextractor (e.g., juice extractor 38 a is at pressure P1; extractor 38 bis at pressure P1+n1; extractor 38 c is at pressure P1+n2; extractor 38d is at pressure P1+n3, etc.).

The goal to maximize efficiency of operation by minimizing processingtime while producing maximum yield is further realized by minimizing thepressing time at each juice extractor while still obtaining maximumjuice flow for the food pieces size at a particular extractor. This isdone by monitoring (e.g., using a flow rate detector) the juiceextraction flow rate and stopping the pressing operation at the timewhere the juice flow rate at that extractor has peaked and begins toslow. As such, time is not wasted trying to extract more juice from thecake which will instead immediately travel to the next comminutor to bechopped into a yet finer particle size to reveal more surface area andjuice containing cells that will then be more easily ruptured at thesubsequent pressing station. In a preferred embodiment, no more thanabout 5 seconds will pass between the time the maximum juice flow ratehas peaked and the extracted food mass is passed to the next comminutor.In a further preferred embodiment, the system includes five extractionsof one minute each and about ten seconds of comminuting between eachextraction.

As described above, too fine a maceration of the food mass at the startof a juice extraction process can lead to clogging of the machine and/ordifficulty in separating the juice from the solids. By using discreteand successive comminutor and extraction stations processing eversmaller food particle size, the invention minimizes the chance thatthose things will happen at least within the first several extractionstations while at the same time maximizing juice yield by macerating andrevealing more food mass particle surface area to which maximizesjuice-containing cell rupture at each extraction station.

Although the invention has been described with reference to preferredembodiments thereof, it is understood that various modifications may bemade thereto without departing from the full spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the claims which follow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for extracting juice from a foodmass comprising a plurality of individual whole food pieces, saidapparatus comprising: a) first and second comminutors and first andsecond juice extractors in alternating, serial fashion, said firstcomminutor operable to reduce food pieces into smaller food pieces andpass the smaller food pieces from said first comminutor to said firstjuice extractor, said first juice extractor operable to extract juicefrom the smaller food pieces and pass the extracted smaller food piecesto said second comminutor, said second comminutor operable to reduce theextracted smaller food pieces into yet smaller food pieces and pass theextracted yet smaller food pieces to said second juice extractor, saidsecond juice extractor operable to extract juice from the yet smallerfood pieces; wherein said first and second comminutors and said firstand second juice extractors are positioned in vertical relationship;wherein said first and second juice extractors each include a juicechamber having an open top wherethrough food pieces are passed from thecomminutor located immediately above the respective juice extractor; andwherein said juice chamber includes a movable juice collecting trayforming a bottom of the chamber opposite said open top when said tray isin a first, extended position, said tray creating an open bottomopposite said open top when in a second, retracted position and whereinthe extracted food pieces may fall by gravity through said open bottomand into the comminutor located immediately below the respective juiceextractor.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, and further comprising conduitdirecting extracted juice from each of said first and second juiceextractors to a juice holding tank.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe juice is extracted at a juice extraction flow rate and furthercomprising a detector operable to monitor the juice extraction flow rateat each extractor and stopping the juice extraction operation at thetime where the juice flow rate at an extractor has peaked and begins toslow.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: b) a thirdcomminutor and third juice extractor operable to pass the yet smallerfood pieces from said second juice extractor into said third comminutor,said third comminutor operable to reduce the yet smaller food piecesfrom said second juice extractor into still smaller food pieces and passthe still smaller food pieces from said third comminutor to said thirdjuice extractor, said third juice extractor operable to extract juicefrom the still smaller food pieces.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, furthercomprising: c) a fourth comminutor and fourth juice extractor operableto pass the extracted still smaller food pieces from said thirdextractor to said fourth comminutor, said fourth comminutor operable toreduce the extracted still smaller food pieces into yet still smallerfood pieces and pass the extracted yet still smaller food pieces to saidfourth juice extractor, said fourth juice extractor operable to extractjuice from the yet still smaller food pieces.
 6. The apparatus of claim5, further comprising: d) a fifth comminutor and fifth juice extractoroperable to pass the extracted yet still smaller food pieces from saidfourth extractor to said fifth comminutor, said fifth comminutoroperable to reduce the extracted yet still smaller food pieces into veryfine food pieces and pass the extracted very fine food pieces to saidfifth juice extractor, said fifth juice extractor operable to extractjuice from the very fine food pieces.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6wherein the juice is extracted at a juice extraction flow rate, andfurther comprising: e) a detector operable to monitor the rate of juiceflow from each extractor wherein the extraction step is stopped at thatextractor and the extracted food proceeds to the next passing step afterpeak juice flow rate has been detected.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising setting an increase in pressing pressure at eachsuccessive extractor.